What did you do today to prepare yourself and/or your family?
Can be anything.
Show pics if necessary.
Be as detailed as possible.
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What did you do today to prepare yourself and/or your family?
Can be anything.
Show pics if necessary.
Be as detailed as possible.
Went to BJ's this morning bought some more canned meats, tuna etc you see on top of the pile to add to supplies. Needs to be organzied I know , just threw it in there for now.
I have a mixture of almost everything i.e. dehydrated, MRE's, canned goods. Enough to last almost a year at this point for me & the Mrs and a few others if need be. This is one closet. There are 2 closets like this. And theres a storage area in the garage for the Big Berkey's, large water storage containers, coleman stoves, camping gear, aladdin oil lamps and all kinds of other goodies. It's insurance, if I never need it I'll be all the happier. Allows me to reach deep REM sleep every night!!
On my way out the door now to pick up anther propane tank. Every month I spend $200+ on something survival minded whether ammo, food, communications etc. Having spent many years in the USMC my family always understood my mentality (prior proper planning.."he's brainwashed") but they knew I was a fairly intelligent, level headed guy and not an off the cuff wing-nut. They understood, it just wasn't for them. 15 years ago friends thought it was a little loco, 10 years ago after 9/11 they started asking questions and in the last year they're asking for advice.
http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/...d/101_0335.jpg
The round (8) 6 gallon white containers are hard red winter wheat. The other white containers have a variety of items from rolled oats to barley, beans, pasta etc. The boxes on the bottom contain all sorts of dehydrated vegetables, TVP, fruit etc.
Exercised my ass off in high humidity and mid-80's.
Exercise. Need lots more!
Dave- Back in A-stan?
I got up, got my Kit and MK18 ready to look for some Taliban....:jester:
While here in the Stan, all I can do is read material to prepare. I did just start the book, When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need To Survive When Disaster Strikes By Cody Lundin. It is a good book and he sure has a different outlook on the topic.
I am working almost every day on remodeling my house. How is that "prepping"? Because I have very little experience doing that. So for the last couple of years I have made it a goal to do as much home repair and home remodel as I can myself. This way I will build more hands on skills other than my total dependence on computer/management work.
Of course I do a lot of the other more typical prepping of beans bullets, and band-aids, too.
So far I have really stretched myself beyond what I am confortale with, but gain a tremendous amount of satisfaction taking my time and doing things much better than standard construction, but a bit less than journeyman craftsman.
- Tore out a funky walkin closet in master bedroom that was not framed properly. Lead to tearing out all the wallboard and carpet, particleboard underlayment too. I rebuilt the closet including proper reinforcement in the rafters. Then I added soundproofing and hung new drywall. I chickened out and hired a a contractor to tape and mud the drywall and lay hardwood floors (gorgeous work).
- Built three garage cabinets with 3/4" plywood and a self-designed cat hutch (compact way to store cat food, eating platform, and elevated sleeping platform. I had never built cabinets before and learned a lot about joints and shelf supports (used Kreg pocket hole tool, routed dados, etc.).
- Laid a 13' x 4.5' porcelain tile hearth in the den, after moving the 350 lb wood stove and 400 lb concrete hearth by myself. I learned why most people do not lay 18" tiles and stick with much lighter 12" tiles! Turned out pretty good. Got help moving the stove back though!
- Have removed all the carpet and vinyl from the kitchen and adjoining den. TIP: Removing particle board underlayment from around the cabinets and cooking island is a PITA! Learned about proper leveling of the subfloor. Found a great local supplier for the select Hickory 2.25" strips and trim and it has been acclimating in my den for a couple of weeks. Have laid half the plywood underlayment and will finish this weekend.
- I have the power nailers and everything to start nailing the strips down later this week. Then lots of sanding and Waterlox finishes.
- TODAY, I finished rebuilding about half of my central air duct work (4" - 10" round) as it was damaged and installed wrong anyway. Learned all about duct work, elbows, hangers, mastic tape, and working in dusty 18" crawl spaces (use a dust mask).
Next year I will install hardwood floors (white oak) in the living room and stairs. And re-roof the house, though that may be contracted out for. Although I roofed houses and apartments in my youth, at 57 yrs old and earning good money it seems silly to work on the roof myself. Still debating with myself.
Overall it is a TON of work. Every project is a new set of codes, procedures, tools, and materials. But I am learning a lot, getting tremendous satisfaction from a job well done, and building up a set of tools to tackle nearly any house job.
I am gaining a lot of knowledge but have not done any project enough times to where I am as speedy as a tradesman. But if worse came to worse and I had to find another job or start a business in a non-computer area, I feel I have much more knowledge and experience than before. I could never earn anywhere near what I do now, but I might be able to eke out a survival income.
Great post. I never even thought about preperation in those terms. I will have to rethink some stuff.
Agreed! Absolutey a great post.
With 48 percent of Americans thinking there's a very strong possibility that we're headed for a great great depression (yes 2 greats), learning as many new skills as you can is pure "prior proper planning prevents piss poor performance" in action! I would fully expect terrorist (and all rogue, axis of evil nations) to try and kick us as hard as they can when we're down too. It will be a huge window of opportunity for them.
Some people will think we're insane to prepare to the degree some of us do. Reminds me of a joke :Cop pulls a guy over and in the process inquires if he has any weapons on him, he says "yes sir, I have a Colt .45 in the glove box, a Glock 23 in a IWB and a Walther PPKS on my ankle." Cops asks " anything else", "yes sir, I have a M4gery and a Benelli in the trunk". Cop says to him " Sir may I ask what you are afraid of", man says "not a god damned thing Sir"!
Doscherm and DaveL..."Stay safe out there"! and "thanks for your service brothers"!
NWPilgrim,
Good post man. Forcing yourself to do things outside your comfort zone is pretty wise; I forget that sometimes.
Just a Jarhead,
Great joke and thank you.
I wonder what % of "preppers" have actually hiked, camped, or spent serious time in the woods. Simply going without modern conveniences will be a shock to most. As Doc and Dave can attest, no a/c takes some getting used to. Thanks to Lenny and Katrina I've had crash courses in no running water, inside toilet, a/c, or power(just like camping except with looters). Getting time w/o these things may be a valuable prep for many.
I still say being in shape with good cardio is one of the most important, and overlooked, preps.
Good thread.
In the last 24 hours:
Helped our 16 year old son work on his 1985 Ramcharger. He is replacing the front crankshaft seal and wanted to show him how to do it so that he could survive on his own.
Went to the range with a bunch of friends. I enjoyed getting some good practice in with various guns I had never shot before as well as help a lady improve her pistol skills.
Fed the chickens and cared for the mother hen and her five little chicks that are going to be future egg layers.
Exercised hard and am feeling it this morning. :cool:
Excellent post MarshallDodge! I believe that well rounded approach to prepping is on the mark. It isn't about just food, or just guns, or just precious metals. It is about having saved up stockpiles AND being ready personally and as a family to do more on our own. Being fit, having DIY skills, and becoming a producer not just a consumer.
Shot about 300 rounds from my AR and about 100 from my Glock. Ran some drills ranging from different positions, distance, concealment, etc. Began researching some water containers(55 gallon drums), purification and replenishing solutions.
Also, began a discussion line with a group of friends to challenge them mentally about what they would do if the SHTF(natural disaster, economical or political).
Made some additions to my bugout gear and organized all of it. Finally, I am in the beginning stages of adding a very small garden in backyard of my town house.
People have AC? How come I did not hear about this? :jester:
Great point about being in shape. That is the #1 survival skill; besides doing PT because of the Army (that keeps me alive) my family does activities to maintain. My wife goes to the gym 5 times a week and we walk around the block almost every night with the kids (on bikes most of the time) when I am there. From my discussions with other MIL Medical people the biggest problem we face here are people “jumping into this and are not physically ready for it. A good example of this is a PA I was talking to with the NG telling me how he has so many injuries from people trying to “get into shape” at the MOB site before coming over. You can’t decide to get into shape. It is a continuing process. The older you get the worse it is. I can even tell when I don’t work out on leave for 2 weeks. So the on and off again thing is not going to “cut it” when we are talking about a survival situation. That is one of the best things you can do to prepare yourself and your family. It also starts the correct mind set for getting into the “suck”.
Not to much I added some very light weight mess kits to the BOB's that I picked up and had the kids practicing their marksmanship with a pellet rifle/pistol which they love to do. Going to start looking at BOB water purification units, any recommendations?
-picked up 40 cans of black beans and 40 of those little cans of diced chili's at Costco today - the poor checkout lady couldn't help herself commenting: "wow, you sure have a lot of beans here!".
I keep two different water items on hand:
1. Sweetwater Guardian filter (pump)
2. Steripen
Between the two, I can make most any water drinkable (I spent a full year in Indonesia with nothing but the Sweetwater Guardian for water filtration and never contracted a water related illness (the malaria episode sucked though...).
I bought the large Cabelas food dehydrator today. Plan on doing some industrial dehydrating for my family and rounding our the food storage with fruits and vegtables.
For small BOB's, check out the Aquamira Frontier and Frontier Pro (Military) survival straws. They are small and great as a secondary or even as a primary for very small kits.
My wife makes apple chips. Cores them and uses a mandelin/V-slicer to cut them into 1/4" thick slices. Sprinkle them with cinnamon and a touch of nutmeg. These dry for about 16 hours to get a good crispy texture.
She has started doing coconut covered banans as well. I need to ask to confirm but I think she just presses long slices of banana into sweetened or unsweetened bakers coconut. I like the sweetened but she eats low carb and uses unsweetened. These dry for about 6 hours to get a good crisp.
Both are a hit with friends and family. Zip-loc baggies keep them crispy for a few days. Ball glass jars with rubber gasket lids keep them crispy for weeks. They usually dont last that long because we eat them. She keeps the dehydrator running pretty constant.
Just yesterday I bought over 22,000 heirloom seeds, a total of 16 different species of fruits and vegetables. Plants about ¾ of an acre.
Guess I'm already halfway there- the area I live in, the power goes out all the time if you so much as sneeze, and the house has not had air conditioning for almost the entire 18 or so years I've been here (finally got some window units just because the heat was really getting annoying). It's actually kind of funny hearing people complain about the heat in an air conditioned building, while you're sitting there comfortably.:p
As far as prepping goes, since I'm still on the ground floor, I spent about 5 or 6 hours (yesterday-sorry) reading/researching an assortment of things. Then I went job searching.:laugh:
Maybe I'll make a trip over to my neighbor and have a nice long chat...
Working on getting in shape, but it's starting pretty slow as I've had some health problems over the last few years that pretty much cut the legs out from under me, so I'm waaaay out of shape and I don't want to just dive back in.
I do not but the guy I went in on with does. One of the few things we have done to reduce cost is for us and like minded others is to acquire or split equipment cost to lower the overall burden. Plus it demonstrates to the others in the group that I or others refuse to be a burden if the time shall come.
Going down in a week or two to assemble food buckets for some bulk product and hit some of the farm stands in teh area for produce to dehydrate. Unbeliveable pricing from the farmers. a tenth of teh price you pay in the grocery store and fresh out of the ground.
I added a RAT RC6 fixed blade knife to compliment my current RC4, 4 Kershaw Shallot folding knives, 4 Fenix LD20 flashlights (100 hour runtime on 2AA batts), 500 rds of Federal 7.62x51 nato & 10.5K of Federal 22lr HV/HP ammo this week.
There are 4 people in my house & I buy most everything in 4's so we all have the same stuff. This includes guns. My next purchase will be more AA rechargable batteries as I'm trying to only purchase electronics that use AA's. I picked up a few solar battery chargers as well last year.
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Love my Asolo's. Just finished wicked hike. Shirt and shorts thoroughly soaked through. Feelin' good.
I added enough Mountain House Freeze dried meals to my family BOB to cover my family for 72 hours at three meals per day per person. I also added enough jugged water to rehydrate the meals over are normal daily water supply. The weight savings food wise is substantial and the meals fit in a medium sized backpack but a problem can a rise if we get separated from are main water source in the vehicle and have to take off on foot. I'm currently looking for a small portable water filtration system to cover are needs if the main source is lost.
I'M looking for a system that covers any nasity water we may find and make it safe for food prep and drinking, I may still boil the water after filtration just be sure its ok.